Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 16: For the first time, the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has introduced an online ticket booking facility for the upcoming One Day International match scheduled for November 29. A total of 6,000 tickets will be sold online.

The tickets for gallery No. 7, corporate box, special enclosure, corporate box, and air-conditioned box are available online. To book tickets online, one has to just go to the website (www.kyazoonga.com) and follow the instructions. After filling up all the necessary information, one has to pay the price of the ticket, including service tax, through either debit or credit card. After that, a printout of the ticket has to be taken and produced to get a proper match ticket.

The OCA has set up a counter at Cambridge School in Cuttack for online ticket buyers. The counter will remain open on November 27,28 and 29. On November 27 and 28, tickets will be available between 10am and 5pm, while on November 29 (the day of the match) online applicants need to collect the ticket between 8am and 12pm. Online ticket buyers need to produce their original identity proof while receiving the ticket.

OCA president Ranjib Biswal said the decision to provide online tickets was for the convenience of viewers who live outside Cuttack. “This will help the viewers outside the state as well as those who cannot queue up to get a ticket,” said Biswal.

He also said this was being done on a trial basis. The response has been considerable and for the upcoming matches, the number of tickets available online will be raised.

Fans have expressed their delight. “If movie tickets can be sold online, why can’t the same apply to cricket match tickets? This will help those who cannot stand for hours in a queue to get match tickets,” said Dipti Panda, a student who has bought two tickets online.

For the upcoming One Day International match against West Indies, which would be held at Barbati Stadium on November 29, 20,840 tickets would be sold from November 26. The total capacity of the stadium stands at 44,570.

Chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ratnakar Shetty was on a visit to Barabati Stadium today. Shetty expressed satisfaction with the match preparations. “Barbati Stadium has hosted a number of matches in the past and the infrastructure is good enough to host an international match,” said Shetty.

OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera said Shetty was on a courtesy visit. “The infrastructure here is good enough to meet international standards and we will approach BCCI to permit us to host test matches,” said Behera.